How to get rid of consultants
You don’t necessarily need a consultant to tell you what’s going wrong — just ask your staff
Wednesday, July 21 2010 || Comment || BY Ed Bernacki
The first is that the essence of lean thinking is efficiency and effectiveness. This is a bottom line issue for all executives. It is about designing processes to get the job done well. Participants included small manufacturers and professional service firms. Each has the same challenge to make their organisation lean.
The second is the role played by the consultants in this field. I see the classic paradox of using consultants. Sometimes they bring missing expertise to a business, yet what many consultants really do is prompt managers and staff to stop and think about what is actually happening. I was surprised by the basic nature of the tools and solutions offered by consultants. It’s not their fault. I put the blame on the managers who fail to lead — that is, use their foresight to keep one eye on the operations and the other eye on the horizon to look for improvements within the business.
Just because a process was useful 10 years ago does not mean it is still useful today. We can’t stop thinking of ways to innovate. This is a perfect role for the inhouse innovationalist. You don’t need an outsider to ask obvious questions. Here’s how to tackle the same issue. It starts with the CEO creating a conversation on the need to look for better ways to get results for customers. While some organisations set up idea suggestion programmes, a novel approach is to run an inhouse competition to look for the big problems in the business. It could be worded as a challenge for staff: based on your experience and observations, what are the big problems in the way we work that, if solved, would make this a better business?
In one company a person said the messiness of the office made it impossible to find the right files in a timely way. Another said managers gave too little notice of orders. In both cases the solutions were simple. Some new bookcases were installed for the numerous customer files. The CEO also learned that information was poorly communicated to staff, something he was unaware of. This affected the quality of decisions staff made on a daily basis.
An innovationalist could run a ‘problem suggestion contest’ by talking about the need to identify problems that need solutions. Let’s say that six worthwhile problems are identified. Create a small team of people who have knowledge of the issue and start by defining the problem. Identify the costs and do not jump to solutions. Some key questions to discuss are:
What are the ‘facts’ about the way we do it now?
Start at the beginning. Stick to the facts. Ensure no one sees blame in the discussion. If possible, head to the shop floor or the location of problem to see exactly the steps involved with the current method of doing something. Write them down in a basic flow chart.
Why do we do it this way now?
Talk about the reasons it is done this way and notice the assumptions that are made about the process. Start by saying, ‘we do step one because …’. List them without any judgement.
Does this make sense today?
Focus on each reason or assumption. Is it still valid today? You may discover the current way of working relates to some long-forgotten approach.
Is there a way to improve this?
Here is the true value of the process. Use the team to brainstorm two types of improvements:
If we want to improve the current approach to this step, what would that look like? Look for basic improvements to simplify or eliminate a step.
If we wanted to reinvent the current approach, what would that look like? Explore ways of getting the job done without being held back by the old assumptions.
This will lead to new ideas as you created the opportunity to study the process in a structured way. Conclude your ‘idea factory’ with recommendations. The key outcome from this process is the skill and expertise you develop to innovate new solutions. You may also recognise the need for some specific outside help. That is the true role of the consultant — to supply the answers, not ask the questions.
Too much chat about getting a system right without the need for creativty!
Everything is systems and accountability but entrepreneurs and product developers need more flexibility than public sector thinking!
Posted by doug green at 09:45 on July 22, 2010
You cant judge a system you are yourself part of, is an old wisdom often forgotten. Value one with consultants is that they are not part of the system, and see things differently, not that they have particular skills. A good rule is to stay clear of accountant consultants though, they are just book keepers. Value two, not necessarily the same person and occasion, is that they have competence you just can't develop yourself. China competence for export is one such competence. Rio, and more so Fonterra, paid dearly for their gross mistake of choosing people with the wrong competence profile. Fonterra skillfully covered up what happened, Rio couldn't as the China government intervened. Not hiring the right competence equals failure. harriss.rick@gmail.com in Hong Kong
Posted by Rick Harriss at 01:01 on July 21, 2010
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